Arrow can be a complicated program. On the one hand, it’s a comic show about a guy who wears green leather and shoots bad guys with a bow and arrow. On the other hand, it’s an ongoing saga of a hero’s journey chronicling his descent into darkness in flashbacks along with his ascent into the light in the present. Now in its fourth season, Arrow has introduced an awful lot of plotlines taking place all over Oliver's timeline, so many that it sometimes feels as though we need a flow chart to keep track of which characters did what and where. Some of the most important narratives are also ones that have yet to find closure. So, check out our list of six crazy Arrow plots that still need to be resolved.
Wildcat In Star City
Season 3 of Arrow felt like something of a mask-a-palooza as more and more vigilantes entered the scene. Laurel Lance as Black Canary is the most notable of the new crime fighters to come out of Season 3, but she never would have made it beyond a ski mask and baseball bat were it not for her coach Ted Grant. Also known as former vigilante Wildcat, Grant was last seen having the stuffing beat out of him in the melee against Danny Brickwell. Despite only appearing in a handful of episodes, Grant managed to turn Laurel into a fighter able to brawl alongside Oliver Queen and Co, so…he might have superpowers and/or sorcery. Wildcat was actually written out of the show due to actor J. R. Ramirez being promoted to regular on Starz’ Power, but his arc on Arrow could still use resolution.
Slade Wilson Keeps His Promises
One of the greatest villains of all four seasons of Arrow so far is definitely Slade Wilson. The flashbacks have felt dull since his departure, and the fractured brotherhood between Slade and Oliver has been a terrifying highlight of the series. His promise to kill the people that Oliver loves is only partly fulfilled following his murder of Moira Queen. His final moments in Season 2 featured him bellowing his intention to finish his revenge and he closed out his appearance in Season 3 implicitly threatening Felicity, so Slade absolutely needs to come back to try and keep his promise once more. Getting Manu Bennett on board to reprise the role might be tricky, but we can definitely hope that this is one plot that will be resolved.
Time Travel Snapping Back
Big things happen during Arrow/Flash crossovers, and the Flarrow crossover of December 2015 saw a lot of action in setting up spinoff Legends of Tomorrow. The Arrow half featured an intriguing twist as Barry traveled back in time after a mission went so very wrong that Central City was destroyed and Team Arrow was incinerated. Luckily, Barry and Oliver managed to fix things in the second timeline, but Barry warned Oliver that a temporal backlash happens when timelines are altered too much. Well, they majorly changed the timeline by saving Central City, and then Oliver changed it a little extra when he chose not to tell Felicity about his child, so time has just been waiting to snap back and fix the differences.
Baby Mama Drama
Fans have known about Oliver’s secret kid since Season 2 when Moira Queen paid Oliver’s other woman $2 million to claim a miscarriage and move to Central City, and we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since. Oliver finally found out about his son during the Arrow half of the Flarrow crossover, and has since chosen to lie to Felicity and visit him in secret. It’s past time that the secret comes out and the lies stop, so this plotline absolutely needs to be resolved ASAP. Fortunately, Malcolm Merlyn has now informed supervillain Damien Darhk about Oliver’s kid, so resolution should be in the very near future. Hopefully, the aftermath is handled better than the plot has been so far. Maybe we’ll even get an answer as to what happened to the $1 million that Samantha neglected to tell Oliver about.
Oliver Joined The Bratva
Way back in early Season 1, Arrow dropped one of the first hints that Oliver didn’t spend his entire five years post-shipwreck stuck on Lian Yu when the third episode revealed that Oliver is a captain in the Russian Mafia. He achieved his rank in the Bratva by saving the life of leader Anatoly Knyazev. Although Oliver did first encounter and rescue Anatoly during his time on the island, Oliver didn’t exactly have the time to become fluent in Russian and receive his Bratva tattoo. Oliver must have gone to Russia and worked with Anatoly at some point during his five years away from Star City; with only a year and a half of flashbacks left, Arrow needs take Oliver to Russia sooner rather than later. Bratva Oliver has been one of the most interesting Olivers thus far, and we’ll certainly deserve something fresh after the Season 4 flashbacks thus far.
Oliver Decided To Come Home
An awful lot happened in the Season 3 premiere, and one of the most significant moments was actually incredibly understated. When Oliver was beginning to open up to Felicity during their first date, he admitted that he returned to Star City from Lian Yu only once he “decided to come home.” Flashback Oliver has had a few chances to leave behind his various hells on Earth and return to his family, but has thus far felt undeserving. Something must have happened to make him want to return to Star City at a time when he had the freedom to decide his own fate. Arrow just needs to fill in the blanks. At the very least, we need to know how he grew that beard and head of hair so fast.
Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.
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